Biography
Amy completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences at Willamette University in 1988 and her PhD in Biological Sciences at Stanford University in 1997. Her doctoral thesis was based in Hawaii, examining controls of water availability on carbon and nutrient cycles in native forest ecosystems. A National Science Foundation (USA) postdoctoral fellowship took her to Argentina, where she began focusing on terrestrial ecosystem ecology in the Patagonian region of southern South America. She began work as a research scientist in the Scientific Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) and also joined the faculty at the College of Agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires. She is the Environment Section Editor at New Phytologist and a senior editor at the Journal of Ecology. In 2018, Amy was awarded the L’Oréal–UNESCO Award For Women in Science for Latin America.
"Pursue questions that really interest you, do things that you like to do - I think that that's the best advice - because if you can maintain that enthusiasm, if you really maintain the joy in what you're doing in science, that will transmit itself into a successful career."
Watch the video to find out more about Amy Austin's career in plant science, and her advice for early career researchers!